True Strength
by DevotedDreamer
Summary: The young brothers learn about the true meaning of strength after Rin defends Yukio from a pair of bullies.


The seven year old Okumura brothers were walking back home after a draining day at school. Most of the walk back was unusually quiet, both brothers lost in their own thoughts. About halfway through to their journey back to the monastery the younger brother broke the silence.

"You know Rin, I really wish you'd stop getting into so many fights at school. You've already gotten in huge trouble with the teachers, you shouldn't push your luck."

"Hey, those guys had it coming! What was I supposed to do- sit back and let them keep bullying you?!" Rin defended.

It was true. The two boys had been antagonizing Yukio about his glasses for days now and it was all Rin could do to hold back his anger. He wanted to beat them to a pulp right then and there, but Yukio kept holding him back. But this time those boys had gone too far and he had to make them pay for it.

The culprits were a couple of upperclassmen who Rin would often see bullying the younger kids for their money, possessions, or just for the pleasure of seeing them cry. Their favorite targets were the ones the teachers favored or who didn't socialize much with the others…students like Yukio. But since their teasing didn't seem to be effecting Yukio anymore, they decided to take it a step further. This time they had stolen Yukio's glasses and tossed them back and forth to each other and made poor Yukio run frantically between them. By the time Rin showed up, his brother was nearly moved to tears in frustration.

The young boy ran at the bullies in a blind fury. Idiot number one, the taller one with dark hair, was the one holding the glasses and waved them in front of Rin's face, taunting and laughing. Not for long though; the smallish foot came flying through the air and delivered a swift kick to the bully's face, breaking his nose. The impact of the blow had sent him falling back, banging his head against the concrete. The other boy looked horrified by what he'd just seen and turned to run away.

"No you don't!" Rin shouted. This one was just as guilty as the other and Rin wasn't about to let him go after what they put his brother through. He launched himself at his brother's second tormentor, grabbing him from behind and choking him from the back.

A small crowd had gathered around by this point, some were well aware of the reputation this young boy had. His fierce personality and inhuman strength were well known to the students in his class. They knew better than to mess with Rin _or_ his brother. Most of the other students just stood there, dumbfounded by what they had just seen.

Fortunately for Rin, this whole throw down took place when they went outside for lunch and no teachers were around to see it. Yukio still felt uneasy after the fight. His brother was starting to get a bad reputation around the school and he was worried that those boys might tell their teacher what had happened. But Rin just gave a cheeky grin and told him not to sweat it. Almost anytime he beat up one of the older students, they almost never confessed, mostly because they didn't want to admit to getting beaten up by someone as young as Rin. Despite knowing this, he never used it for his own personal gains. He only used it when someone was bullying him or his brother.

Yukio advised him not to get carried away next time because sooner or later he was gonna get caught and he'd already been in enough fights in his own classroom. Their father had been called to the principal's office so many times, the office staff knew him by name. It was a miracle Rin hadn't been expelled yet.

"Seriously Rin, you can't get carried away like that. If you keep getting into all these fights you could be expelled."

"I'm not worried about that. Besides, those guys were asking for it. I can't just stand by and let them pick on you like that."

"Then why didn't you just call teacher?"

"Hey, I didn't see any teachers around, did you?"

The younger brother opened his mouth to say something then snapped it back shut. His brother had a point. There hadn't been any teachers around at a time and by the time Rin actually found one, his glasses probably would've been broken. And since Yukio needed such a strong prescription, they were quite expensive.

Yukio was truly grateful to Rin for always coming to his defense; he just wished his brother didn't overreact so much. He hated seeing his brother getting punished on his account. Every time Rin got scolded by a teacher or held back after school, Yukio couldn't help but feel partially responsible.

"It's just…you don't always have to come to my rescue, Rin. I'm not as weak as you think I am," his last sentence barely above a whisper.

Rin stopped in his tracks and looked his brother straight in the eye, "I don't think you're weak at all. Remember that time you stood up to Yamamoto-sensei when she excused me of stealing that ugly sapphire broach of hers. Everyone in the class knew I didn't do it, but they were too afraid to say anything. You were the only one who stood up for me and you even found the broach. If it weren't for you I'm sure I would've been kicked out."

Yukio seemed to perk up when he heard this. The broach had simply fallen off their teacher's blazer when it got snagged on one of the teacher's desk handles and rolled under the desk. Thanks to Yukio's level-headedness, the incident was resolved rather quickly. Although the teacher continued to eye Rin suspiciously, as if he might go after any one of her other valuables at any moment. Even at the age of seven, he had already grown accustomed to the spiteful glares from adults who had come to expect the worse from him.

"Or how about that time you went to investigate that crashing sound we heard in the middle of the night when Dad was away on some kinda mission. I was really freaked out, but I tried to act brave so you to feel scared either, but you didn't seemed scared at all. But you told me not to worry and stayed in front of me the whole time when we went outside to see what it was. And you were right, it was just a stray cat digging around in the garbage cans for food," he chuckled as he recalled the memory.

He had always been afraid of ghosts, monsters, and things he couldn't see. He'd rather take on an army of bullies any day! Yukio didn't seem to mind though. Whenever Rin heard a creepy noise at night his younger brother assured him that there was nothing to worry about and reminded that their dad was right downstairs if they ever needed him to vanquish the monster in their closet. Yukio seemed to have a knack for keeping a cool head in times of peril.

"Besides Dad, you're the bravest person I know! And you're super smart too- you can find a way out of any bad situation," he spoke passionately, grinning at his brother in genuine admiration.

"Besides, that's just what brothers do. They look out for each other. I want to be there for you, just like I know you'll always be there for me, right?"

Yukio stared back at his brother for a moment then gave a slow, solemn nod. "I will. I promise."

Little did he know it wouldn't be long before he would have to test that promise. His exorcist training would begin only weeks later.

A/N: Just a little one shot I threw together from Rin and Yukio's grade school days. I love seeing flashbacks of their childhood in the manga and anime and have been wanting to write one of my own for a while now, it was just hard to choose a topic so I thought I'd start with something simple. Hope you enjoyed it! And if you want to leave me a review, I'd really appreciate it! :)


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